Gas flow diverters are employed to deliver hot exhaust gases from a turbine either to a heat recovering steam generator or to the stack. Many problems are attendant their use due to the large volumes of gases at high temperatures and under substantial pressure that are exhausted by turbines and the necessity that the hinged gas diverter blade be swung into and out of its operative positions relative to the stack and to the steam generator without vibrating and without causing thermal shock on the system. Such diverters are large as are the conduits leading threfrom to the steam generator or to the stack and as the conduit to the steam generator must be capable of being safely entered by service personnel, leakage into it must be prevented when gas flows are diverted to the stack in order to avoid the necessity of placing the turbine out of service.
As far as we are aware, gas flow diverters have not been fully satisfactory with respect to blade functions and have not been capable of ensuring zero gas leakage under all conditions.